Piano-action.



J. T. BLBSSING.

PIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 26, 1911.

' 1,090,192. Patented Mar.17,1914.

WITIVE88E8 ATTORNEYS JOHN T. BLESSING, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS.

PIANOACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

Application filed August 26, 1911. Serial No. 646,166.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN T. BLnssnvc, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fort Worth, in the county of Tarrant and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved Piano-Action, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the present invention is to produce a piano action in which certain parts are constructed of such material that the warping, swelling and shrinking which is incidental to the use of wood will be entirely done away with, and further, one which will require less padding or cushioning than is now commonly employed.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the movable parts of the action as to insure a positive lift in thejack to throw the hammer against the string, and also to permit the hammer to quickly fall away from the string after delivering its sound producing blow so that all possibility of blocking the vibrations of the string will be avoided.

A further object is to so construct the lifting jack that a repeat action may be secured with slight downward movement of the key, as in producing a trill.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawin constituting a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views and in which Figure 1 shows in partial side elevation and partial section a piano action embodying the invention; Fig. 2 illustrates the hammer and its operating mechanism in operation, illustrating in dotted lines the position of the hammer after it has struck a blow and preparatory to repeating; Fig. 3 shows an enlarged sectional view of the hammer butt and its connection with the butt of the damper lever: and Fig. 4 is a detail view of the hammer butt, the jack and jack lever, showing the position the jack assumes upon the first upward movement of the jack lever.

In the drawing, 1 represents the key bed upon which is mounted the balance rail 2 which supports the keys 3, the keys 3 being pivotally supported upon the balance rail 2. all in the usual manner. At its lower end the key 3 may be provided with a capstan screw 4 upon which rests the abstract 5, the lower end of the abstract being provided with a cushion cap 6.

.parts in position, shown in The abstract 5 at its upper end is pivotally connected as by means of a pin 6 to a ack lever 7, the jack lever 7 being pivoted as by means of a pin 8 to the ears 9 of a bracket 10, which bracket is secured in an nclined position. as shown, to a rail 11. At its upper end, the bracket 10 is provided with ears between which is pivoted as by means of a pin 12, the hammer butt 13. EX tending upwardly from the butt 13 is the hammer shank 14; which at its upper end carries a head 15 and the usual felt hammer 16. The rocking movement of the hammer butt 13 imparts to the hammer its move ments toward and from the string 17 The normal position of the hammer is shown in Fig. 1, wherein it is shown as supported by the hammer rest rail 18. In order to rock the hammer butt 13 about its pivot 12 so as to swing the hammer to strike the string, there is provided a jack 19, which in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, comprises links 20 and 21. the link 20 being pivoted at its lower end, as by a pin 22. to the jack lever 7, and pivotally connected at its upper end as by means of a pin 23 to the lower end of the upper link 21, the joint between the links 20 and 21 being substantially the well known rule joint which permits the breaking of the toggle links in one direction as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, but will prevent their movement beyond an alined position in the other direction. The upper end of the link 21 is seated in a re cess 24 formed in the hammer butt, and is pivotally connected as by a pin 25 to the hammer butt. The recess 24 is of such a size relative to the thickness of the link 21 as to permit a free movement of the link 21 within the recess. The outer lug 26 of the hammer butt forms a stop which engages the upper link 21 of the jack to hold the v Fig. 1. A cushion 29 will preferably be employed between the inner face of the lug 26 and the link 21.

The damper 30 which may be of any usual form and construction is mounted upon the upper end of a damper arm 31 which at its lower end is fixed in the damper butt 32. The damper but-t 32 is pivotally mounted as by means of a pin 33 in the upper end of the bracket 10. Upon the first upward movement of the jack lever 7 the upper end of the link 21 of the jack moves into engagement with the inner face of the lug 26 of the hammer butt so as to break the joint between the links 20 and 21 as shown in Fig. 4:, when upon the further upward movement of the jack lever, the hammer will be thrown into engagement with the string. The damper butt 32 is rocked soas to remove the damper from the string at the time the hammer is thrown toward the string by means of a toe as formed on the hammer butt 13 which engages a tongue 35 which projects from the damper butt 32, the arrangement being such that an upward movement of the hammer butt 13 about its pivot 12 will cause the toe 34 to depress the tongue 35 of the damper butt and rotate it about its pivot 33. Light springs 36 and 37 are coiled about the pivot pins 12 and 33 respectively of the hammer butt and the damper butt to return them to normal position. The jack lever 7, the toggle levers constituting the jack 19, the hammer butt 13, the bracket 10 and the damper butt 32 are formed of a fibrous material, such as indurated fiber, which material is capable of being worked by suitable tools in producing the parts of the desired shape, and is not subject to accidental breakage by shock, nor to atmospheric conditions, so that it does not warp, shrink or crack; furthermore, by its use, a less number of cushioning pads will be required.

It is important to note that by the toggle jack which forms the connection bet-ween the jack lever and the hammer butt, there is secured a quick, rigid, upward throw of the hammer, and a quick return by reason of the breaking of the toggle connection be tween the links forming the jack, and further that this toggle jack will hold the hammer temporarily in the position shown in dotted lines ready for a repeat stroke while the key is held depressed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A piano action, comprising a support, a hammer butt pivoted to the support and provided on its under side with a downwardly projecting lug, a jack lever pivoted to said support, a jack formed of links pivoted together by a rule joint, one link being pivoted to the jack lever and the other to the hammer butt adjacent to the lug thereof so as to be engaged thereby to break the joint of the links, and means for operating the jack lever.

2. A piano action, comprising a support, a hammer butt pivoted to the support and provided with spaced lugs on its under side, a jack lever pivoted to the said support, a jack formed of links pivoted together by a rule joint, one link being pivoted to the jack lever and the other to the hammer butt between the lugs thereof and adapted to be alternately engaged by said lugs.

3. A piano action, comprising a support, a pivoted and spring-pressed hammer butt mounted on the support and provided with a downwardly projecting toe, a jack lever, means for operating hammer butt from the jack lever, a pivoted and spring-pressed damper butt mounted on the support with its pivot adjacent the pivot of the hammer butt and provided with a tongue projecting laterally therefrom and extending below and in the path of the toe of the hammer butt.

4. A piano action, comprising a support provided at its upper end with ears, a hammer butt pivoted between said ears and provided with a toe, a spring on the pivot of the hammer butt and engaging said butt and the support, a jack lever, means for operating the hammer butt from the jack lever, a damper butt pivoted to the support at a point opposite the ears of the support and provided with a tongue projecting below and in the path of the hammer butt, and a spring on the pivot of the damper butt and engaging said buttand the support.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN T. BLESSING.

Witnesses:

HENRY N. BABCOCK, SoLoMoN T. Bnrssmc.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

